Brazil cuts electricity rates more than expected

Rio de Janeiro, Jan 25 (IANS/EFE) Brazil's electricity rates are being cut more than initially announced four months ago in an effort to improve the competitiveness of industry and promote economic growth, President Dilma Rousseff said.

The new rates, which took effect Thursday, are 18 percent lower for residential customers and up to 32 percent lower for business customers, the president said.

The government had announced plans in September to cut power rates 16.2 percent for residential customers and 28 percent for commercial customers.

Lower power rates will allow industrial users to "reduce costs", leading to more investment and job creation, Rousseff said.

The government is investing in the energy sector as part of a plan to double Brazil's installed generating capacity over a 15-year period, the president said.

Brazil is not going to have to deal with power outages, as the South American country did in 2001 amid an energy crisis, Rousseff said.

"Brazil is going to increasingly have better and cheaper energy, more than sufficient for the present and future, and without any threat of rationing or any type of cut-off in the short-, medium- or long-term," Rousseff said.